Recreation/Sports

Former Near West Side mail carrier sends greetings from his hike on the Appalachian Trail

Former Near West Side mail carrier sends greetings from his hike on the Appalachian Trail Plain Press, July 20220                             While doing a 50 mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail with her partner Nicholas Morganti, Samantha Maloy encountered a former mail carrier from the Near West Side of Cleveland. The mail carrier named Eric, said he had … Continue reading →

John Marshall High School’s Girls’ Rugby Team

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, May 8, 2022; Girls Rugby Game between John Marshall High School and Medina High School, John Marshall High School field, 3952 W. 140th Street: John Marshall’s Girls’ Rugby team, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s first girls’ rugby team, gains experience in this competitive match. PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, May 8, … Continue reading →

City of Cleveland seeks National Park Service grant to develop park near the Clark Recreation Center

(Plain Press, June 2022)                      City Council members Jenny Spencer, Kevin Bishop, Anthony Hairston and Blaine Griffin plan to introduce an emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Public Works to apply for and acthcept a grant from the National Park Service for the purpose of developing a new city park to be located near the Clark Recreation Center. … Continue reading →

MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings

MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, May 2022        The temporary 3-acre park proposed by MetroHealth Medical Center for an area just across Scranton Road from its new Glick Center was the subject of a community meeting held at the Family Ministry Center on Fulton Road on April 6th. The meeting … Continue reading →

Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park

Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park To the editor: Open letter to the Planning Commission: Plain Press, May 2022        I am writing to you in response to news I heard about MetroHealth’s plans to demolish three buildings between W. 25th St. and Scranton Rd. … Continue reading →

Four area schools slated for renovation or new construction

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, March 17, 2022; Marion Champlin Seltzer Elementary School Building, 1468 W. 98th Street: The Cleveland Metropolitan School District plans to build a new school next to the current building on land that sits behind Cudell Recreation Center. Once the new school is completed, plans call for the current building to be … Continue reading →

Near West Design Review Committee tables MetroHealth park proposal

COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT TO DETERMINE FATE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, March 19, 2022; St. Nicholas Belarusian Orthodox Church building, 3518 Scranton Road, SW: A proposal by neighborhood resident Bob Gardin seeks to save this building from demolition. MetroHealth medical center proposed to demolish the building as part of a plan to … Continue reading →

Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft

Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft (Plain Press, March 2022)    Merrick House celebrated the reopening of its newly refurbished gym and tech loft on February 18th with a ribbon cutting ceremony, speeches, a live DJ, a slam dunk contest, and ball handling drills for the children. Merrick House in a press … Continue reading →

Residents enjoy winter walks and kite flying at Edgewater Park

City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets

City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets by Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, August 2021)     For more than a decade, community developers on Cleveland’s near west side have been working to create a new, improved streetscape on Lorain Avenue between West 25th and West 65th Street. It was always about more than potholes and … Continue reading →